To wit: "People tend to use what they started with until they move to another one that has a 'must-have feature' like support for specific hardware, or their distro falls behind in the update race," opined Barbara Hudson, a blogger on Slashdot who goes by "Tom" on the site.

"To abuse an old aphorism, 'Once you've seen 100 distros, you've seen them all'," she told LinuxInsider.

'Linux and Open Office Compete Lead'

Perhaps the most entertaining discussion of all in recent weeks, however, arose when it came to light that Microsoft recently posted a job ad for a "Linux and Open Office Compete Lead, US Subsidiary (CSI Lead)." Alert blogger John McCreesh
flagged it.

"If you're looking for a new role where you'll focus on one of the biggest issues that is top of mind for KT and Steve B..." it begins, later specifying that the mission "is to win share against Linux and OpenOffice.org by designing and driving marketing programs, changing perceptions, engaging with Open Source communities and organizations, and drive internal readiness on how to compete with Commercial Linux and participate with Open Source Communities."

So there we have it! It's no longer just Linux but now OpenOffice as well that's causing pangs of anxiety in the halls of Redmond.

Did bloggers have much to say on this one? You bet your Pepto Bismol they did.

"What Next? Sorting Through Garbage Bins?'

"Free software projects need to bear this in mind when Redmond comes knocking on their doors, and tries to suggest that it would be mutually beneficial for them to work together," Computerworld UK's Glyn Moody wrote, for example. "The intent is for that benefit to flow one way, and one way only, as this job advertisement makes clear."

And again: "Expect Microsoft to definitely carry out its continued Embrace, Extend, Extinguish tactics against F/OSS," LXer blogger
vainrveenr agreed.

'What Are We Going to Do About Linux?'

Linux Girl was struck by a mounting sense of
deja vu. Could she let this one go without further ado? Not a chance.

"I suspect what Microsoft is planning would be to encourage open source projects to work better with MS office than they do with OpenOffice," Montreal consultant and Slashdot blogger Gerhard Mack told LinuxInsider. "This job posting should be a wakeup call to anyone who thinks it's safe to work with Microsoft."

Indeed, "I remember hearing from a former Microsoft employee that there was a time when at just about every meeting, people would ask, 'So what are we going to do about Linux?'" Slashdot blogger David Masover asserted. "And no one would have a satisfactory answer."

'$150 for a Student?'

The fact is, open source "terrifies" Microsoft, Masover told LinuxInsider. "They've been fighting this battle for a long time."

What the company is most afraid of, he added, "is competing with free."

"Now, I know that businesses generally get bulk licensing, and are happy to write Office off as a legitimate expense," Masover said. "But $150 for a student? (Let me think: Office, or an iPod Nano? So hard to choose.)"

'Free-as-in-Beer and Good Enough'

Anything beyond the student level costs more than the price of a low-end computer or a high-end game console, he added.

"From what I've seen, more and more students are starting to use OpenOffice, simply because it's free-as-in-beer and good enough -- much better than the Microsoft Works that came on their computer," he opined. "I'd guess that's why Home and Student has been discounted by that much..."

Even if there are things Office can do that OpenOffice can't, "OpenOffice doesn't have to be as good as Office -- it just has to be less than $370 worse."

'They Can't Afford to Be Wrong'

If people are starting to use OpenOffice for home and school, meanwhile, "that makes it that much easier for a business to choose it," Masover noted.

After all, "the biggest roadblock so far has been training," he pointed out.

Ultimately, then, "I think the only news here is that Microsoft is taking OpenOffice seriously, but they've been taking Linux and open source seriously for a while," Masover concluded. "While it's in their best interest to have everyone think open source is a you-get-what-you-pay-for second best, they can't afford to be wrong."